MUMBAI, July 11: In the two-and-a-half years the Sena-BJP alliance has spent at the helm of affairs in the state, the death of 10 innocent Dalits in ``indiscriminate'' police firing is being seen as a major setback, particularly for high-profile Deputy Chief Minister Gopinath Munde.

As recently as Thursday, Munde had claimed that the law and order situation in the metropolis as well as in the entire state was much better as compared to that during Congress rule. In the same breath, Munde had informed the Lower House that Union Home Minister Indrajit Gupta had actually complimented his department for maintaining law and order in the state.

Both Munde and Chief Minister Manohar Joshi had been claiming on all platforms that the state had not witnessed a single communal riot after the alliance government came to power and thus, it was the best administered state in the country. ``Keeping the state incident-free is the yardstick to gauge its law and order situation,'' Munde had said amidst thumping of desks by treasury bench members.

In fact, immediately after Munde's speech, Congress member R R Patil had pointed out that maintaining peace was a temporary phase. Again, it was Munde who immediately countered Patil asking him to disclose the names of persons likely to create trouble.

However, within 24 hours of his well-studied but politically motivated reply in the marathon debate on the law and order situation, Munde was faced with the disconcerting news of Friday's police firing incident in Ghatkopar.

Munde has been at the receiving end ever since he was sworn in as Deputy Chief Minister with charge of the Home and Energy portfolios. It began with the controversial Enron power project, which he had threatened to dump in the Arabian sea, and was followed by a series of various other controversies.

Recently, Munde was under attack from none other than two senior officials of his own department: Sanjay Pande, who alleged that Munde had virtually refrained from taking stringent action against the main accused in the multi-crore Abhyudaya Bank scandal and, Assistant Inspector General of Police Y P Singh, who said the Deputy Chief Minister was interfering in the day-to-day administration of the police department.

Both Singh and Pande were abruptly transferred by the alliance government to Nagpur and Jalna respectively. He was also under attack for the assault on anti-Enron crusader Medha Patkar and the lathi-charge on Youth Congress workers led by YC president Anees Ahmed at Nagpur on June 20. Senior BJP and Shiv Sena ministers were divided over Munde's style of functioning. ``It is no doubt a major setback for the alliance government, but it does not call for divesting the Deputy Chief Minister of his Home portfolio,'' Irrigation Minister Eknath Khadse said.

The newly appointed Irrigation Minister said on the basis of information given by the police, it appeared that the incident was pre-planned and was designed to defame the alliance government. ``It all happened in just two hours. At 5 am, there was no one near the statue. And within an hour, a 5000-strong mob had gathered, leading one to the conclusion that it was pre-planned,'' he pointed out.

However, at least three senior Shiv Sena ministers felt that in view of the deaths of Dalits, either the Chief Minister should divest Munde of the Home portfolio or he should quit on his own. ``In the wake of the deaths of 110 tribals (Gowaris) in Nagpur during Sharad Pawar's tenure, the then Tribal Development Minister Madhukar Pichad had resigned on moral grounds. We feel Munde should follow Pichad's example in order to maintain high standards in political life,'' a Shiv Sena Minister said on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Manohar Joshi met senior cabinet members and officials to take stock of the law and order situation in the metropolis. ``A preliminary inquiry conducted by the department has revealed that it was a pre-planned job,'' a senior official said.

The home minister's version

There was no sign of trouble at 5 am when police patrol passed through the area.* The statue was desecrated between 5.30 and 5.45 am.* The local police was informed at 7 am and police reached the site at 7.10 am. By that time a crowd of 400 to 500 people had gathered.* As the mob started swelling, they began to block Eastern Express Highway on both sides. The mob set afire two luxury buses. Several other vehicles were also burnt.* Three tankers carrying highly inflammable material were stopped on the highway and a mob advanced towards one of them with intention of setting it afire.* The State Reserve Police Lathi charged the mob and then opened fire at 7.40 am.n As many as 70 incidents of committing sacrilege of statues occurred in Maharashtra over the past 10 years.* There are about 10,000 statues in entire Maharashtra of which about 2000 are in Mumbai alone.

Obdurate insanity

Ten lives would not have been lost had two Dalit leaders shown presence of mind and better understanding of the situation when they came up against the desecrated statue of their leader early in the morning.

When Bhaskar Barve and Tansen Nanavare saw a garland of chappals around the statue of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar at 6.15 am they were appalled. They wanted the people behind it to be taken to task. receiving the information, three policemen from a nearby chowky arrived there. While they tried to persuade the RPI leaders to remove the chappals and take up the issue at the police station, the angry leaders demanded a detailed panchnama to be drawn up and an inquiry launched into the incident soon.

They also insisted that the chappals would not be removed.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.